Biography

Erwin Olaf’s (b. The Netherlands, 1959) art explores the human experience through meticulously staged scenes. His distinctive aesthetic is highly stylized and perfectly polished, yet his work penetrates deep beneath a pretty facade. Instead, the heart of Olaf’s work addresses social issues, taboos, and conventions, often through subtle or mysterious details.

Simultaneously cinematic and painterly, Olaf’s photographs at first glance appear to transcend the unphotogenic realities of the world. Subjects are perfectly lit, their clothing impeccably tailored, and the built sets models of domestic achievement. Yet, glazed into this tantalizing veneer, there is often a detail—a turned head, wet eyes, a yellowed lawn—that opens a portal into a mysterious reality and emotional tension. The artist describes his creations as “a perfect world with a crack."

Olaf’s worlds are furnished by details straight from the artist’s imagination, yet they draw on visual languages from recognizable time periods and cultures.

Rain (2004), Hope (2005), Grief (2007) and Fall (2008) — which challenge myths of uncomplicated domestic bliss and postmodern liberation— are distinctively set in the American mid-century, the coiffed men and women and classically designed homes as glamorous and alluring as ever. The artist’s most recent series Berlin (2012), Shanghai (2017), and Palm Springs (2018) form a three-part project that were each shot on location, rather than in a fabricated studio environment. In this trilogy, Olaf examines internationally renowned cities undergoing seismic change, reflecting the particular emotions and neuroses of these cities and their inhabitants.

In the spring of 2019, Olaf’s work is the subject of a double exhibition at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and The Hague Museum of Photography, as well as a solo exhibition at the Shanghai Center of Photography. His work is included in numerous private and public collections, such as the Rijksmuseum and Stedelijk Museum, both in Amsterdam,The Netherlands; Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, Paris, France; George Eastman House, Rochester, USA; and the Sir Elton John Collection, UK and USA. The artist lives and works in Amsterdam.

Exhibitions

News

Edwynn Houk Gallery is pleased to present Palm Springs (2018), a new body of work by Erwin Olaf. Made on location, Palm Springs depicts a series of enigmatic encounters with a cast of imagined characters, inspired by the celebrated history and aesthetic of the southern California city.

From nightlife-fuelled provocateur to Rembrandt-inspired portraitist, Erwin Olaf – 60 this year – continues to approach his subject with theatrical flair.

‘Palm Springs is a progression – it’s both my first time photographing in a landscape, and a return. I went back to the 1960s. I love the midcentury-modern details of Palm Springs and the stories they evoke’

The Rijksmuseum has been a major source of inspiration for Erwin Olaf since his early youth, with Rembrandt, Jan Steen, George Hendrik Breitner and other Dutch artists being hugely influential on his work. To mark the transfer of his core collection the Rijksmuseum is staging the exhibition 12 x Erwin Olaf, in which Olaf places his photographs in dialogue with Dutch painting. This is the first time that his work will be displayed alongside that of his great examples.

"Parallel: Erwin Olaf" presents nearly 50 works of the famous Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf in his fifteen years of his career, several of which were exhibited for the first time in China. 2019 marks an important moment in his career, and Erwin Olaf is one of the most important and influential photographers in the Netherlands today. On the occasion of his sixtieth birthday in 2019, his work will be exhibited in major museums in the Netherlands, including the Hague City Museum and the Hague Photography Museum. "Parallel: Erwin Olaf" will be held at the Shanghai Photographic Art Center on March 2, 2019. It will be a high-profile cultural and art event at the Shanghai Art Weekend and Hong Kong Art Basel.

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and The Hague Museum of Photography are to honour one of the Netherlands’ most famous photographers, Erwin Olaf (b. 1959), with a double exhibition. Olaf, whose recent portraits of the royal family drew widespread admiration, will turn sixty this year – a good moment to stage a major retrospective. The Hague Museum of Photography will focus on Olaf’s love of his craft and his transition from analogue photojournalist to digital image-maker and storyteller. Olaf will himself bring together some twenty photographs by famous photographers of the past who have been a vital source of inspiration to him. Gemeentemuseum Den Haag will show non-commissioned work by Olaf from 2000 to his most recent series, including the work he produced in Shanghai and his most recent series Palm Springs, on display for the first time. Olaf will be showing his photography in the form of installations, in combination with film, sound and sculpture.

Erwin Olaf’s photos have the gloss of fashion shots and a haunting undercurrent that makes you long for more context. As he turns 60, three museums will present his work.

Mr. Olaf turns 60 this year, and three museums in the Netherlands are using the occasion as an opportunity to present retrospectives on his work. The Gemeentemuseum and the Fotomuseum, both in The Hague. are showing hundreds of his photographs in two concurrent exhibitions, “Erwin Olaf,” from Feb. 16 until May 12. At the same time, Aperture is releasing a 400-page monograph, “Erwin Olaf — I Am,”featuring his images starting in the early 1980s.

The Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf this week donated to the Rijksmuseum his core collection, the fully representative range of work spanning his entire career. The Rijksmuseum will be the recipient of a total of 500 objects, comprising prints, portfolios, videos, magazines, books and posters. The vast majority are donations; 60 photographs and three videos have been acquired with the support of the BankGiro Loterij.